The Immoral Majority: Why Evangelicals Chose Political Power over Christian Values - Hardcover

Howe, Ben

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062797115 ISBN 13: 9780062797117

Publisher: Broadside Books, 2019

Synopsis

Now a National Bestseller.

Evangelicals are losing the culture war. What if it’s their fault?

In 2016, writer and filmmaker Ben Howe found himself disillusioned with the religious movement he’d always called home. In the pursuit of electoral victory, many American evangelicals embraced moral relativism and toxic partisanship.

Whatever happened to the Moral Majority, who headed to Washington in the ’80s to plant the flag of Christian values? Where were the Christian leaders that emerged from that movement and led the charge against Bill Clinton for his deception and unfaithfulness? Was all that a sham? Or have they just lost sight of why they wanted to win in the first place? From the 1980s scandals till today, evangelicals have often been caricatured as a congregation of judgmental and prudish rubes taken in by thundering pastors consumed with greed and lust for power. Did the critics have a point?

In The Immoral Majority, Howe—still a believer and still deeply conservative—analyzes and debunks the intellectual dishonesty and manipulative rhetoric which evangelical leaders use to convince Christians to toe the Republican Party line. He walks us through the history of the Christian Right, as well as the events of the last three decades which led to the current state of the conservative movement at large.

As long as evangelicals prioritize power over persuasion, Howe argues, their pews will be empty and their national influence will dwindle. If evangelicals hope to avoid cultural irrelevance going forward, it will mean valuing the eternal over the ephemeral, humility over ego, and resisting the seduction of political power, no matter the cost. The Immoral Majority demonstrates how the Religious Right is choosing the profits of this world at the cost of its soul—and why it’s not too late to change course.

About this title

About the Author:

Ben Howe is a writer, podcaster, and film - maker, as well as the founder of Howe Creative, a video production company. He has appeared as a commentator on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News, and has written guest columns for the Atlantic, the Washington Examiner, The Washington Post, and the Daily Beast, among other publications. You can follow him on Twitter at @BenHowe

Review:

"Ever wonder why Evangelicals love Trump? Ever wonder how they could come to forgive his many sins and pull the lever for him? Howe's got answers. Equal parts personal narrative (Howe is Christian), political mystery and salient analysis, Howe's book is also an ethical treatise, both devastating and inspiring in its demands on its reader, and reminiscent of the great works of the 19th century Mussar movement." (Batya Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor at Forward)

"This is a fascinating look inside a world that's a mystery to non-evangelicals like me. But it's also something I didn't expect: Funny and moving. This book will be read for years as an explanation not only of the Trump era, but of the political rise and spiritual fall of an entire movement in 21st century America." (Tom Nichols, author of The Death of Expertise)

"Ben Howe has crafted a book that lays out the rocky path the bulk of evangelical Christian movement took, going from being the arbiters of morality, to shrugging it off and embracing Donald Trump in service to power." (Jay Caruso, Deputy Editor Washington Examiner Magazine)

"This is a book the big-name evangelical crusaders who sacrificed their morals at the altar of the Republican Party do not want you to read. Howe, the once-way­ward son of a pastor who personally recognizes the need for true moral leader­ship, takes a searing look at people such as Jerry Falwell Jr., Dr. James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and others to ask a hard, but necessary question: Who will inspire future generations of Americans to worship God when our nation's biggest moral leaders are so busy worshipping false idols in our policies?" (Amanda Carpenter, author of Gaslighting America: Why We Love It When Trump Lies To Us and CNN Political Commentator)

"It's one thing to have a transactional relationship with the Trump presidency. But as Ben Howe argues in The Immoral Majority, it's entirely different to redefine your moral framework to accommodate someone who has no business fitting into it. Howe's deeply personal call to his fellow Evangelical Christians should not be ignored." (Jonah Goldberg, author of Suicide of the West)

About this edition

• Publisher: Broadside Books
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0062797115
• ISBN 13: 9780062797117
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296